1964 Austin Healey Works Sebring Sprite.
Raced in 1964 12hrs of Sebring by the factory. Returned to the factory then sold in 1964 to an American BMC dealer. We are pleased to offer this car in original “time-capsule” condition with full original factory paperwork and invoices.
The factory raced a small number of prototype Sprites from 1959 thru 1968 attaining impressive results in Sebring, Le Mans, the Targa Florio and other events.
Sebring 1964. The Ferrari – Cobra wars were underway. Shelby Cobra took 5 of the top 10 positions, but Ferrari finished 1-2-3. Ferrari won, but Shelby got more points! Porsche was there but on this day did not have enough to contend for the winning laurels.
The best cars of the day were there. Cobra Daytona coupe. Ferrari GTO, Ferrari 275P, Porsche 904, Corvette Grand Sport, Alfa Romeo TZ. The entry list is a who’s who of racing. Phil Hill, Graham Hill, Surtees, Holbert, The Rodriguez brothers, Cunningham, Gurney, Grossman, Jim Hall, Yenko, Bonnier, Ken Miles. Old names from the 50’s and new names looking to make something of themselves.
The car we have available is one of the Austin Healey 1964 Sebring entries. Its race was rather short lived, retiring with a broken axle in the 9th lap. The sister car went on to win the class, beating Abarths, Alpine Renaults and other Sprites.
On March 24, 1964, after attending the race, a BMC dealer, Stephen Pitcairn, wrote to Donald Healy congratulating him on the excellent showing of the Sebring Sprite prototypes, and asked if he could purchase one of the racers. Healey Works did not usually sell their Prototypes because, has Donald said in his response letter, “prototypes are hand built and considerably more expensive.” But since he was a BMC dealer, he made an exception. The Sprite was recommissioned with some street equipment and shipped off to Pennsylvania. Stephen campaigned the Sprite in a few local hill climb events and retired it with just 787 miles on the odometer. A close friend of Stephens’ purchased the Sprite in 1985. On his passing it was sold to a notable collector in the USA.
The current condition of the Sebring Sprite Prototype is quite remarkable. It has traveled just 900 miles from new and sits on the original Dunlop Racing tires on Healey magnesium racing wheels (it also comes with a brand-new set of magnesium wheels). Every detail of the car is as it left the factory. All of the electrical components are date coded and match the correct time period. The exterior glass and plexiglass are original. The Sprite is in excellent running and driving condition.
Sebring Sprite Prototypes do not come to market often. This is a rare opportunity to acquire a historic race car with impeccable factory documentation in spectacular original condition.
